Railway Stations as Paths

"Paths are the channels along which the observer customarily, occasionally, or potentially moves." [Lynch p.47]

Characteristics of Paths
- width / narrowness, shape
- facade characteristics
- proximity to special features of the city
- special use or activity, movement
- continuity / fragmented
- directional quality & terminal point, spatial corridor & limits
- connections, intersections, branches

By definition, railway lines are channels that move people from one place to another, no matter it is above ground or underground. When they are above ground, they are clearly lines in the city. Passengers on the train can have different views of the city as they travel along the railway lines. But when they are underground, as Lynch put it, they are detached from surrounding elements and environment. The subway is a disconnected nether world [p.57]

One difference between railways and other paths is that people are not free to move away the channels, neither they can change their directions as they will. Passengers do not have to make any decision once they get on the train, and know exactly where they want to get off. Moreover, passengers will all get the same view of the city every time when they are above ground. It is also hard for them to interact with other elements along their ways due to the enclosed environment and the speed of the train. All of these in fact weaken the image of the railway line itself and thus dilute the traveling experience. Therefore, passengers like me pay less attention to the image of the city that is viewed from railway paths, and just focus on their own interest, like reading or music..

For railway stations, on the other hand, its role as a path is secondary. Railway stations are points on the path system which mark the start and end of a passenger's journey. They are major entrance/exit of a place and are always regarded as city nodes [p.74] in this broad scale.

While in the architectural scale, the railway stations by nature have a linear form. The long concourse and platform area can be integrated into the path system. It's horizontal facade or elevated structure can also provide a directional quality to the surrounding environment. However, such directional quality is always lost in subway stations. The linear nature of the station is not usually reflected by its superstructure. Integrating the stations to the path system become a challenging task.

In short, even though the railway lines are obvious paths in the city, railway stations are rarely recognized as paths. However, there are a lot of opportunities for the railway stations to enhance the adjacent paths, as well as to integrate with the path system.

The Image of the City, Kevin Lynch

In this book, Kevin Lynch considered the legibility of the American cities by studying how the citizens perceive their cities. His study was focus on the effect of the physical elements of the city, ie. paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks as defined in the book. And he suggested that a legible city would be one whose physical elements are easily identifiable and are easily grouped into an overall pattern. [p.3] So a legible city would have a distinctive, memorable image in people's mind that they can easily orient themselves and navigate the city without getting lost.

By studying Boston, Jersey City and Los Angeles, Lynch delineated the different characteristics and qualities of the five elements of the city. And he investigated how the design of these elements can contribute in building or strengthening the image of the city.

I would like to apply Lynch's study to the subject of my thesis - Metro station. Using the five elements as a framework to consider the role of Metro station in the city, as well as to anlyze the qualities of the forms of existing stations. Therefore, one goal of my thesis will be to enhance the image of a transit-oriented neighborhood through the design of the metro station.

2030 DC Metro Plan

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/images/200805/2030forwmatalarge.png

This map summarized the system expansion plans and other improvement studies of WMATA.

The site of my thesis will be probably selected from the existing / improved / future stations shown in this map.

Initial Ideas about the thesis

Title
Rethink DC Metro Station
- Design Better Station for the Neighborhoods

Thesis Questions

• What is the role of Metro station in the city? Can it be more than just an exit of the railway?
• How efficient is our current metro stations in performing as a neighborhood center?
• How can the architecture of metro station become a catalyst for a Transit-Oriented Development?

Research Strategy

• Compare and contrast the railway system of different metropolitan areas
• Document and analyze the architecture of the existing Metro stations in DC metro
• Analysis should cover the relationships between the station with the ground plane, roads, pedestrian network, city fabric, community space, surrounding architecture etc.
• Reference to other railway station projects

Site Selection

• An existing Metro station(s) or future Metro station(s)

Intervention Opportunity

• Design of the Metro station and the spaces around it
• Planning for the neighborhood around the Metro station

DC Metro and Hong Kong MTR

I left Hong Kong 4 years ago and have been living and working in Washington DC Metro area since then. I work in Arlington, Virginia while living in Silver Spring, Maryland. Therefore, DC Metro has become part of my life. It gives me very different experiences in comparing with Hong Kong MTR. To list some of those:

- Train schedule
Metro's train schedule is not as frequent as MTR. A Metro train comes every 4-6 mins in rush hour and 15-20 mins for non-rush hour and weekend. In Hong Kong, most of the trains come in 2-3 mins, and not more than 10 mins. In DC, I feel like I am discouraged to use Metro in non-rush hour and weekend.

- Delay
I travel with Metro usually at 7:30-9am and 6-7:30pm through red and orange line. In my limited experience, sometimes I still feel like Metro has delays every other day. Just one single mechanical error can cause 45mins delay for the whole line. While living in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, I probably can count the number of delays with my two hands.

- Car Environment
I think one good thing about Metro is that the seats are more comfortable than Hong Kong MTR. I can have a pretty pleasant trip with my readings if the car is not too crowd. However, there are few cars that are poorly ventilated, stank, and sometimes with lights off.

- Station
The station is another big different. In Hong Kong, most of the stations are air-conditioned and have security screen wall between the track and the platform. There are extensive underground networks linking the underground stations with shopping malls and major landmarks. And the ground stations are prominent buildings and are incorporated with housing developments.

- Cell Phone network
I don't like people talking on their phone too loud near me especially when I am tired after a day of hard work. However, getting no signal at the underground portion of Metro is very inconvenient and sometimes frustuating. It is never an issue in Hong Kong where I take such service for granted. But I am glad that thing might change in the future.

Overall, I see there are a lot of rooms for improvement in the current Metro system. To me, reducing, if not solving, the delay problem as well as providing more-frequent service are at the top of the list.

My thesis is drvien by rethinking the role and design of metro station in the hope of building a better Metro system for the national capital.